19th October 2012
British Company acts as a lynchpin for New Zealand in the US Market
A little melon that is making the world a sweeter place is just one New Zealand success story that is being taken to new
markets as a result of British investment and global reach.
New Zealand natural sweetener company, BioVittoria, credit their success to the partnership with the UK Company, Tate & Lyle with their launch into the US of a natural zero calorie sweetener.
The sweetener is made from a melon like fruit known as the Monk fruit. Inside this Chinese native are non calorific
sweeteners 150 times sweeter than sugar. The New Zealand Company BioVittoria has the supply chain for the extract from
Monk fruit.
The British High Commissioner Mrs Vicki Treadell says, “This is a great example of how a major British player is
leveraging its distribution network to take a Kiwi company into new markets. This is being achieved through an exclusive
global marketing deal whereby both companies benefit and succeed internationally together.”
“I like to call this strategic partnering of Tate & Lyle, BioVittoria and the American market an excellent example of Triangulation. This is where two countries work
together to penetrate a third market.”
BioVittoria chief executive David Thorrold says the partnership is critical, “What is interesting about this is, here is
an example of a company spring boarding into the US through the UK. It is not just about Europe, there are large British
companies that have large businesses in places other than Europe. It would be the single most important partnership we
have had to date.”
Praising BioVittoria’s strong presence in China, Tate & Lyle’s, Jeremy Thompson, says “the fact is that BioVittoria had already developed those relationships. If we had to
seek out partners in China that had similar relationships, we would have had to start from the ground.”
ENDS